Shower feed assembly

ABSTRACT

A floor-treating machine head assembly for use with rotary floor surfacing machines. The assembly comprises a support member, a base plate, and a backing with fastening means releasably securing the scrubbing pads or brushes to the head assembly. The support member has recesses in the top surface which receive the detergent and shampoo solutions and directs the same downward through the base plate. A cavity is formed by the assembly and controls the foam from the solutions and does not allow this foam to interrupt the flow of the solutions through the assembly into the scrubbing member.

United States Patent 1191 Thielen Feb. 26, 1974 [5 SHOWER FEED ASSEMBLY 3,344,455 10/1967 Pauler et a1 15/50 R Inventor: James E. Thielen, New Brighton, 3,404,420 10/1968 Lachat et al. .1 15/50 R X Primary E.raminerPeter Feldman [73] Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Alexander, Sell, Steldt'&

Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Delahunt Minn. 221 Filed: Mar. 13, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT A floor-treating machine head assembly for use with 1 Appl' N05 234,104 rotary floor surfacing machines. The assembly comprises-a support member, a base plate, and a backing 52 U.S. c1 15/180, 15/50 R, 15/98 with fastening means releasably Securing the Scrubbing 51 1111. C1. A46b 13/02, A471 7/02 P 0r brushes to the head a ly- The pp [58] Fi f S 15/180 50 R, 49 R, 320 9 memberhas recesses in the top surface which receive 5 30 7 the detergent and shampoo solutions and'directs the same downward through the base plate. A cavity is 5 References Cited formed by the assembly and controls the foam from UNITED STATES PATENTS the solutions and does not allow this foam to interrupt the flow of the solutions through the assembly into the 2,153,207 4/1939 Petty 15/180 scrubbing member 2,156,514 5/1939 Sassano 15/180 2,517,915 8/1950 Okun 15/180 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 SHOWER FEED ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an improved floor treating machine head assembly and in one aspect, to an improved head assembly for use with cleaning and scrubbing solutions which tend to develop a foam or lather.

2. Description of the Prior Art The floor treating machine heads of the prior art.

have provided openings to form shower risers for floor machines which would permit floor cleaning or treating solutions to be metered from a tank on the floor machine and dispensed onto the rotating head and into the working pad or brush. These shower risers or heads usually have some type of rib built around the slots or openings on the top such that the dispensed chemicals were trapped and prevented from being thrown off of the head by centrifugal force as'the head is rotated by the floor treating machine. A lather will develop with most detergent and shampoo solutions. This lather then tends to back up through the brush and through the openings in the top of the head. As more solution is dispensed onto the head it drops onto this lather or foam and the strength of the lather causes the dispensed liquid to spatter under the centrifugal force and to be thrown off the head rather than being fed down through the holes and into the bursh or pad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The floor-treating machine head assembly. of the present invention is designed such that the dispensed detergent and shampoo solutions will be directed down through the head assembly into the brush or pad. The resulting lather from these solutions will becontrolled or trapped and will not find their way back to the top surface of the head assembly to block the flow of further solutions through the brush.

The head assembly of the present invention is formed with a cavity between the openings in the upper surface of the head and the openings that are positioned directly above the working brush or pad.

The floor-treating machine head assembly of the present invention comprises a centrally disposed hub or drive block for attachment of the floor-treating machine head assembly to the drive of a floor treating machine. The hub is surrounded by a plurality of recesses which are formed in the top of the head to receive a solution dispensed from the floor-treating machine. Each of the recesses is formed with a slotted aperture through which the solution may pass. An enclosure defining a cavity surrounds the recesses and communicates with said recesses through the slotted apertures. The cavity surrounds the recesses and is disposed over openings in a generally planar circular base formed with an array of slotted openings in radially aligned spaced relation to said slotted openings in the recesses. A holder is secured to the base to releasably secure the pad or brush to the head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the floor-treating machine head constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the head parts of the head in perspective.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The shower feed riser constructed according to the present invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and generally designated as head 10 comprises a support member 11 which is secured to the top surface of an annular plate or rigid base member 12 in any convenient manner, e.g., by adhesive or fasteners such as screws 13. The screws 13 extend through openings in the support member 11 and are kept by threaded cores set in the base member 12. Affixed to the lower surface of the base member 12, e. g., by an adhesive, is a sponge rubber or equivalent layer 15. To the lower surface of the sponge rubber layer 15 is adhered a flexible resin layer 16 in .which are embedded one end of each of a multiplicity of filaments 17 having a mushroomshaped terminal end, which conbine to form a holder for releasably supporting a floor pad to the head 10.

The holder can be constructed according to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,001, issued to Robert H.

Kleemier et al. The holder of this patent is especially adapted to hold low density nonwoven fibrous abrasive discs and pads. Such discs are disclosed and claimed in the Hoover et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,953.

The holder can have other forms, without departing from this invention, for the purpose of supporting a brush-like working or scrubbing member.

The support member 11 is a one-piece cast or molded article formed of a high impact polystyrene structural foam, however it can be formed of other equivalent moldable materials. The ring-shape is formed by a hub 18 which forms a drive block and has holes 20 therein for attaching the head 10 to the drive of a conventional rotary floor surfacing machine (not shown). The exposed or top surface of the support member 11 is formed with spaced concentric generally cylindrical walls 21 and 22 to define a recess which surrounds and is concentric with the hub 18. The recess is divided by radially positioned paritions 23 into a plurality of reservoirs 25 positioned in a circular array about the hub 18. Apertures 26 are formed at the trailing end of the reservoirs 25, as determined by the direction of rotation of the drive for the floor surfacing machine. The apertures 26, as illustrated, are formed in the base of the reservoirs 25 and in the wall 22 to afford the discharge of solutions from the reservoirs 25.

The array of reservoirs 25 are radially positioned on the head 10 in relationship to its axis to catch solutions, e.g., detergent and shampoo solutions, dispensed from a supply container carried on the floor surfacing machine and dispensed through a tube positioned above the rotating head. The reservoirs 25 are approximately 56 inch to 1 inch deep as measured at the partitions 23.

The support member 11 has a base surface 27 beneath the recess and outer edge wall of the member 11. The base surface 27 also has a number of walls, two of which, 30 and 31, are generally cylindrical to define a recess in the base surface. This recess and the top surface of the base plate 12 define a continuous lather.

control cavity 32 in the head 10 coaxial with the reservoirs 25 when the support member 11 and base plate 12 are secured together.

The base plate 12 is an annular planar molded member of a high impact polystyrene structural foam, or equivalent material. It has a plurality of slotted openings 33 which are radially aligned with the apertures 26 and are radially spaced therefrom. The openings 33 are positioned to be in communication with the cavity 32 and have the trailing edge adjacent a boss 35 formed when positioning the holes for the screws 13. This is defined by the position of threaded cores 36 in the base plate 12.

Holes corresponding to the slotted openings 33 are also formed in the sponge rubber layer 15 and resin layer 16 to permit the detergent and shampoo solutions.

to pass into the scrubbing pad or brush.

During operation, the detergent and shampoo solution is dispensed into the reservoirs 25 and through apertures 26 into the cavity 32, onto the base plate 12 and through openings 33. As the solution is worked a foam or lather generally develops about and in the scrubbing member. This lather then begins to back up through the openings 33. If these openings were on the top surface then the lather would tend to block further solution from passing downward. With the present head 10, the lather passing through the openings 33 is trapped in the cavity 32. Solution may continue to be dispended into the reservoirs 25. It will-then be driven through the apertures 26 by gravity, centrifugal force and drive of the partitions 23. The solutions will then wash across the base plate 12 and strike the bosses 35 and will pass down through openings 33. The lather in the cavity 32 of the head 10 will not tend to hinder the flow of solution or cause it to spatter the walls etc. adjacent the operating floor machine.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed l. A floor-treating machine head comprising a frame having a centrally disposed drive hub, wall means defining a plurality of reservoirs positioned in a circular array about said drive hub for receiving detergent and shampoo solutions discharged from a supply on a floortreating machine, said reservoirs having slotted apertures at one end through which the solutions may be discharged, a base having a generally planar surface to which may be secured a scrubbing member and having a plurality of openings therein allowing solutions to pass through the base and into said scrubbing member, and means defining an enclosed lather control cavity which is continuous and located coaxially to said drive hub and said reservoirs and which communicates with said openings and said slotted apertures for directing said solutions from said reservoirs to said openings and into said scrubbing member and for trapping the lather therefrom.

2. A floor-treating machine head according to claim 1 wherein said cavity is positioned around said reservoirs and is separated therefrom by wall means formed with said slotted apertures.

3. A floor-treating machine head according to claim 2, wherein said openings are positioned in radial alignment with said apertures.

4. A floor-treating machine head assembly comprising a support member having an annular shape and formed with a hub to which the drive from the floortr eating machine may be attached and with an exposed surface and an axially spaced planar base surface, said exposed surface being formed with walls defining an annular recess concentric with the hub and having radially extending partitions to divide said recess into a plurality of reservoirs, said base surface having walls defining a continuous recess concentric with said hub and disposed radially outward of said recess in said exposed surface, said recesses communicating through slotted apertures in the radially outer wall of said recess in said exposed surface,

a base member having a planar surface secured to the planar base surface of said support member and concentrically thereto to define with said recess in said base surface an enclosed lather control cavity about said recess in said exposed surface, said base member also having a plurality of axially extending openings positioned about the center of said base member and radially aligned with said slotted apertures and communicating with said cavity, and

means secured to said base member to releasably support a scrubbing member. 

1. A floor-treating machine head comprising a frame having a centrally disposed drive hub, wall means defining a plurality of reservoirs positioned in a circular array about said drive hub for receiving detergent and shampoo solutions discharged from a supply on a floor-treating machine, said reservoirs having slotted apertures at one end through which the solutions may be discharged, a base having a generally planar surface to which may be secured a scrubbing member and having a plurality of openings therein allowing solutions to pass through the base and into said scrubbing member, and means defining an enclosed lather control cavity which is continuous and located coaxially to said drive hub and said reservoirs and which communicates with said openings and said slotted apertures for directing said solutions from said reservoirs to said openings and into said scrubbing member and for trapping the lather therefrom.
 2. A floor-treating machine head according to claim 1 wherein said cavity is positioned around said reservoirs and is separated therefrom by wall means formed with said slotted apertures.
 3. A floor-treating machine head according to claim 2, wherein said openings are positioned in radial alignment with said apertures.
 4. A floor-treating machine head assembly comprising a support member having an annular shape and formed with a hub to which the drive from the floor-treating machine may be attached and with an exposed surface and an axially spaced planar base surface, said exposed surface being formed with walls defining an annular recess concentric with the hub and having radially extending partitions to divide said recess into a plurality of reservoirs, said base surface having walls defining a continuous recess concentric with said hub and disposed radially outward of said recess in said exposed surface, said recesses communicating through slotted apertures in the radially outer wall of said recess in said exposed surface, a base member having a planar surface secured to the planar base surface of said support member and concentrically thereto to define with said recess in said base surface an enclosed lather control cavity about said recess in said exposed surface, said base member also having a plurality of axially extending openings positioned about the center of said base member and radially aligned with said slotted apertures and communicating with said cavity, and means secured to said base member to releasably support a scrubbing member. 